Hollywood uncovers time capsule from late 1960s amid centennial celebration
The City of Hollywood is celebrating its centennial. Its birthday gift is a time capsule from the late 1960s
By Lynn Martinez, Rubén Rosario
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HOLLYWOOD, Florida (WSVN) — A South Florida city has uncovered something from the past, and they had to blast through a wall to get to it.
The City of Hollywood is celebrating its centennial. Its birthday gift is a time capsule from the late 1960s, deep in the walls of City Hall.
On Thursday, the soldered copper box was uncovered in honor of the city’s 100th birthday. It’s filled with artifacts of the city’s history from the 1960s.
After carefully cutting the box open and pealing back the lid, officials discovered a treasure trove of Hollywood artifacts inside.
“Lots of amazing things like old newspaper articles and newspapers that don’t exist anymore like the Hollywood Sun-Tattler and the South Broward News,” said Hollywood Communications Manager Arlene Borenstein.
There’s a book about how to structure the Hollywood Police Department, old newspapers, a Bible, and brochures and pamphlets promoting what Hollywood still offers best: tourism.
“This is a version of, I guess, destination marketing where Hollywood is marketed as ‘Florida’ golfingest city,’” said Borenstein. “We don’t see things like that often or written that way nowadays.”
There’s also a self-guided tour of Hollywood looking quite different than today, because it also included Dania, Davie and Hollywood.
The box also includes a budget book from the 1968.
“One notable item is the capital budget, which was about $100,000 in change, which would be, you know, any given day of the month, we have expenditures that are a bit more than $100,000 these days in our operating budget,” said Borenstein.
Long before cellphones and computers, Borenstein showed how Hollywood employees got their news: a pink newletter titled “Employee News.”
“Some employees wanting to be part of City Hall and not able to just yet,” she said.
One thing that hasn’t changed is Hollywood’s growth. From 1963 to 1967, the population doubled.
“It just shows that Hollywood was a destination still in the 1960s, but it’s grown essentially, and it still remains a destination that people know and love,” said Borenstein.
The City of Hollywood will be celebrating their centennial all year, and this weekend is their big St. Patrick’s Day parade.
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